Improvements/Developments in Transport

Question 1

Road Infrastructure

Answer 1

A1 Newcastle-Gateshead Western Bypass
• Important to the economy of the north east and for national journeys.
• The route has some of the most congested highway links in the region.
• The Allerdene Bridge (which carries the A1 over the East Coast Main Line) was constructed nearly 40 years ago and requires regular maintenance.
• Widening the A1 to three lanes.
Improvements planned in order to meet current demand and to address the forecast impact of traffic growth (20,000 new jobs are planned in the region by 2030).

Question 2

Rail Infrastructure

Answer 2

High Speed 2 (HS2)
• Estimated cost is at least £40 billion. Predicted to be open in 2025.
• A new highspeed rail link from London to Birmingham and then on to Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester.
• Reduced journey times between London and northern cities with speeds of up to 250mph.
• Includes many areas of natural beauty/interest and green belt land.
• Requires compulsory purchase of many homes and land.
Tunnels will be used on large sections of the route.

Question 3

Airport Capacity

Answer 3

Expansion of Heathrow Airport
• Plans for a third runway.
• The busiest UK airport with 75 million passengers in 2015.
• Could contribute £61 billion to the economy and create 77,000 additional local jobs over the next 14 years.
It will create further noise pollution.

Question 4

Port Capacity

Answer 4

Port of Felixstowe and the London Gateway
• Unlike most other countries (where most ports operate under public control), UK ports all operate in the private sector.
• The majority of investment is concentrated in London and the south- east, benefitting from the close proximity to the vast EU market.
• The Port of Felixstowe is UK’s largest container port.
EU grant of £10.4 million will provide a rail link from Felixstowe to the Midlands.

Question 5

Strategies Used in an Attempt to Resolve Regional Differences

Answer 5

Policy to reduce the north-south divide began in the 1930s, however, it has not been very effective. The gap in performance between regions
has widened over this time. This is because the majority of interventions have tended to reinforce the existing industrial structure, with policies that support low-knowledge, more routine activities (e.g. call centres).

Question 6

Northern Powerhouse

Answer 6

The government hopes to reduce the north-south divide and attract investment into northern cities and towns with the introduction of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ (a concept which will encourage the major
northern economies to unite; giving them with more political powers).
One of the Northern Powerhouse’s main targets is to improve transport links between the north’s major cities to enable them to compete together as one major economy, instead of competing against each other.
The Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review (NPIER) believe that a higher-performing and more united northern economy could add more than £97 billion to the UK economy and generate 850,000 new jobs by 2050.